Cassidy whirled in her seat to look out the back window. “How could they have found us?”
“Same way we found Vaughn, I guess. Or maybe he called them.” He pressed down on the gas pedal, urging the BMW a little faster. Eventually, the road would widen and straighten out and he could pick up speed, but there were sharp curves in this area.
Beau silently cursed. The BMW was a great automobile, but for high-speed driving on this kind of terrain, it wasn’t the Lambo or the Ferrari.
He checked the rearview mirror. The headlights were still behind him, rapidly closing the distance. He reacheddown to the compartment beneath his seat, took out the Glock and rested it on the seat beside him.
He could outrun the oncoming car, eventually lose it in traffic, and get them back home. It wouldn’t be much of a problem. But he was tired of feeling like prey instead of predator. He kept the car moving at the same speed. With no room to pass in this section, the other vehicle stayed close behind. The straightaway loomed ahead, widened into a four-lane road.
He flicked a glance at Cassidy. In the glow of the dashboard lights, her face looked pale, but her expression was set in determined lines. Her hand trembled as she raised her skirt. He spotted the pistol he hadn’t known she was wearing. Her hand steadied as she pulled it out and set it on the seat beside her. She wanted this over and done with as much as he.
Beau maintained his speed as he reached the straightaway. The car behind him accelerated, came right up on his bumper, a big black SUV. Clenching his jaw, he pulled into the right lane and buzzed down his window.
As the SUV approached, he wrapped his hand around the pistol. The SUV pulled up right beside him, giving him a close look at the driver’s face. Broad forehead, wide nose, high cheekbones, thick black hair combed straight back. His hand tightened around the pistol grip, his finger on the trigger. For a moment through the window, he and the driver’s eyes met.
Then the man hit the gas and the SUV shot forward. At the last second, Beau saw the couple in the backseat entwined like a pair of snakes. The breath he hadn’t realized he was holding rushed out. Cassidy relaxed back in her seat.
“It was a limo,” she said. “Someone else leaving the party early.”
“Yeah.”
“I feel like an idiot.”
Beau cut her a look. “Don’t.” He set his weapon back in the compartment beneath the seat. “It could have gone the other way. At least we were prepared.”
Cassidy sighed. “You’re right.”
Now that the apparent danger was over, his gaze slid down to the holster strapped around her pale, pretty thigh. Why the gun looked so sexy he couldn’t say, but he felt a rush of heat that sent the blood straight into his groin.
Adrenaline still pumped through his veins. He planned to put it to good use when he got home. He glanced over at the sexy woman next to him. She was eyeing him like a juicy piece of meat. Seemed like the two of them were on the same page.
Beau pressed harder on the gas.
* * *
As the BMW pulled into the garage, Cassidy’s body still hummed with a combination of fear, battle-readiness, and relief. Sitting in the passenger seat, she’d been certain the driver in the black SUV planned to kill them. For a moment, memories of the crash came rushing in, bringing the bile up the back of her throat. The Lamborghini sliding, flying through the air, flipping, bouncing, landing in the field with a bone-jarring jolt.
The certainty that she was going to die.
Tonight, instead of a confrontation with a killer, the SUV was a limo, holding nothing but a young couple in the throes of making love. The nausea slowly faded. In its place, something hot and needy whispered through her. She sensed Beau’s gaze and suddenly felt flushed and overly warm, her breasts achy and sensitive.
Beau turned off the engine and they climbed out of the car. When they reached the kitchen, he caught her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I know you were thinking about the crash. Are you okay?”
She opened her mouth to say yes, that she was fine, but a funny little sound came out and she just shook her head.
Beau drew her into his arms and for several seconds just held her. He bent and softly kissed her. “It’s all right, baby. It shook me up, too.”
A breath shuddered out. “For a moment, it was like a flashback. Everything came rushing back.”
“Yeah, I’ve been there.” He eased her away a little. “It’s getting late. You’ve had enough excitement for one night. Maybe you should just, you know, get some sleep.” He kissed her forehead. “Probably be good if you . . . umm . . . slept in the other room.”
She swallowed. She didn’t want to sleep in the other room. She wanted to sleep with Beau. She needed him to erase those fearful moments, make her feel safe.
“Probably be a good idea,” she said. “But I don’t want to.”
His eyes gleamed, turned a hotter, more intense shade of blue. “You sure?”
Cassidy nodded.Oh, yeah, I’m sure.
